Finding the Courage
by MyOwnLittleWorld
Summary: My first fluffy five part fic. A date to Hogsmeade goes differently then Ron and Hermione expected, and both of them get high on cheering charms as they escape from... did you really expect me to tell you that? COMPLETE!
1. And that's the easy part

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, it's all JK. Please don't sue me, and even if you do all you'll get is $5.87.  
  
Ron looked at himself in the mirror. He was just as gangly and freckly as ever, but he was determined not to let this stop him. Not this time. He was going to do this, even though Hermione had been sitting in the common room just last night writing a letter to Krum. Vicky Krum. Ron's expression turned stormy as he stared unseeingly into the mirror.  
  
"If you would wipe that expression off your face then you would look quite charming!" His mirror snapped in an irritated voice. Ron turned away and walked down to the common room, muttering to himself about good-for-nothing- nineteen-year-olds-who-had-nothing-better-to-do-then-write-to-girls-that- were-bloody-four-years-younger.  
  
He had already arranged everything with Harry, who had looked a bit surprised at first but had then agreed willingly to find someone else to go with. Now all he had to do was ask. Ha! Easier said than done.  
  
Ron took the final steps to the common room from the boy's dormitory. Hermione was humming softly to herself while she knitted misshapen elf hats. The elf hats, he thought fondly, though better, still had a rather lumpy form and couldn't really count as clothes, in his honest opinion. For once, though, he kept his abnormally large mouth firmly shut. Harry had told him that Dobby was the true receiver of the hats, and however much Ron would enjoy actually winning one of their spats, now just wasn't the time. Firelight glimmered dully on Hermione's chestnut colored hair, which hung in a mess of frizzy curls down her back. He still couldn't get over the surprise he had felt when she had turned up at the Yule Ball with perfectly tamed hair, but he felt even more surprised to find that he liked it better this way.  
  
"Hello Ron, what are you still doing up?" she asked, not looking up from her knitting. Harry had disappeared into the dormitory to "turn in early," although Ron suspected it was to give them some time alone and himself some time to think. He'd been doing an awfully large amount of thinking lately, which, Ron thought as he smiled to himself, was a new route for Harry.  
  
"Couldn't sleep." He finally answered dismissively, walking shakily over to sit by her.  
  
"Well, neither could I, I mean, how could I, with so many poor House Elves still working without wages! I can't quite understand how there are still so many, when I should have freed at least three quarters of the elves at Hogwarts! I think that somebody's rehiring them. Did you know—"  
  
"Actually," Ron said, interrupting what was sure to be a long rant about elf rights. "I was wondering if I could ask you something."  
  
"Is this about that Charms assignment on dizzying charms?" Hermione asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at him. "Because that really shouldn't have been left until—"  
  
"Well, you'll never know if you don't give me time to talk, will you?" Ron cut her off again. Hermione closed her mouth, quite a rarity. The problem was, now that he had a chance to pose his question, he wished that he'd let her continue talking so he had more time to think about what he was going to say.  
  
"I was actually wondering if—"  
  
"if-"  
  
"if-"  
  
He sighed. "I could borrow a quill tomorrow." He was never very good at lying, and he wasn't even capable of subtlety.  
  
Hermione gave him a sharp and somewhat disappointed glance. "Let me get this straight. You come down to the common room at 1:00 in the morning, interrupt me in the middle of talking to you, and tell me you have to ask me something important. And this important question is, can you borrow a quill tomorrow?"  
  
"Yep," he tried sounding nonchalant.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Here, do you want to write it down?" Hermione summoned a piece of parchment and a quill from her book bag.  
  
Ron, acting before he could think about what he was doing, scribbled. 'Do you want to go to Hogsmead?'  
  
"Don't I always?" she asked after she had read it, smiling as though she knew something he didn't.  
  
"Alone. With me," Ron choked out, looking at the floor.  
  
Hermione's smile grew wider as she mumbled something under her breath that sounded like "finally", although he couldn't be sure.  
  
"I'd love to." She said, looking him in the eye.  
  
Ron sighed in relief as he stumbled back upstairs. He had made it through what was supposed to be the easy part, although it certainly hadn't seemed that easy to him.  
  
A/N: I'm not redoing this story for my own good—review please! BTW, the messed up paragraphing isn't my fault, the computer does it. )o; Quick edit won't fix it. 


	2. Trouble in Hogsmeade

Part II  
  
A/N: I didn't get as many reviews as I hoped for, but I decided to continue regardless because I couldn't seem to stop writing. I would really, really love it if you either e-mail me or review, constructive criticism very welcome. BTW, this takes place in the trio's 6th year. Pretend that Harry's lifetime Quidditch ban was lifted and Ginny Weasley is Chaser. Hope y'all like it, and I'm sorry if this comes out like a big blob of words (like part one) instead of paragraphed like I had it before. *Grumbles about good-for-nothing-computers*  
  
Ron flew around the Quidditch pitch in a bit of a daze. Today was the day. He was taking Hermione to Hogsmead. Alone. Quickly, he attempted to turn his train of thought to Quidditch. He didn't quite do this fast enough, and a speeding bludger narrowly missed his head.  
  
"Ron, get with us! I thought we cured you of this habit last year!" Angelina Johnson cried, passing the quaffle to Ginny Weasley. Ginny managed to grab it as it buffeted through the wind and at the same time shot a witty remark at Ron.  
  
"What's wrong, Ronnie, mind somewhere else today? Or rather, with someone else?" Ginny called devilishly.  
  
Ron shot a very annoyed look at Harry, who he assumed must have told Ginny. Harry smiled slightly as he effortlessly caught the golden snitch, although averting Ron's gaze.  
  
"All right, I can see that no one's quite into Quidditch today, but we'll be making this time up! I want you all here at 6 A.M. sharp!" Angelina yelled, still managing to sound forbidding through the shrieking wind. The team groaned in unison as they landed on the ground and made their way up to the castle.  
  
Ron swiftly changed out of his Quidditch uniform and met Hermione at the carriages. Hermione was staring at the space in front of the carriages, which Ron knew was actually accompanied by thestrals. Ron still couldn't see them, since he had not seen Sirius die, but Hermione must have.  
  
"Remember when I said how I wish I could see them?" Hermione asked, eyes filling.  
  
"Yeah, but you know you didn't mean this," Ron answered.  
  
"I know, it's just." she trailed off. Ron looked at her nervously. Should he hug her? Say something comforting? He didn't manage either, and instead said,  
  
"The carriages are leaving."  
  
Hermione nodded, and they stepped inside while she dried her tears on the sleeve of her robe. When they reached Hogsmead, Hermione asked if they could take a walk instead of going into the Three Broomsticks like they had planned. They had just headed down the main road when they noticed that people had begun to run frantically in different directions, most of them heading into buildings. Ron grabbed Dean Thomas as he dashed by.  
  
"What's happening, mate? Where's everyone going?" Ron asked worriedly.  
  
"Haven't you heard? Word has it that Dementors under You-know-who's power are acting mad- sucking souls whenever they can. Everyone is instructed to find a building and place cheering charms on the walls to help ward them off. I don't know where there'll be room for you though, mate. I've got the last spot in the Three Broomsticks, and we're not allowed to have more than twenty people per building." Dean said very quickly, before dashing off.  
  
Ron's blood ran cold as he looked at Hermione. He could see that she was already thinking hard.  
  
"The Shrieking Shack. I bet nobody's gone there yet, there'll be room," she said suddenly. Both of them turned around and dashed madly towards the tiny building, racing against the cold that seemed to have engulfed them. The Dementors.  
  
A/N: What happened? This was supposed to be a sweet little 2-part fic, but my fingers aren't typing what my brain's telling them to and it's turning out to be quite different from what I thought. Oh well. Remember, like it? REVIEW! Hate it? REVIEW! 


	3. Almost Too Good to be True

A/N: Review please. Please. PLEEEEEEEEASE!  
  
The cold intensified as Ron and Hermione rushed towards the little building. Hermione gasped 'Alohomora' when they reached the door, and they both collapsed inside, chests heaving. Ron finally came to his senses and slammed the door shut, but it did nothing to block out the frigid chill. After catching her breath Hermione conjured up a bluebell-colored flame in the empty hearth.  
  
"We should start on the cheering charms," Ron said, pulling out his wand. Hermione looked a bit lost, and Ron remembered that cheering charms were the only class of Professor Flitwick's that she had not attended in her third year.  
  
"Oh well, here- I'll show you." Ron recalled that he had been particularly successful at this particular charm (in his opinion). So successful, in fact, that one spell had sent Harry into fits of hysterical giggles and rather unusual behavior.  
  
"No, no, it's flick, swish, flick, flick," he said a few minutes later, guiding her hands with the correct motions. When he had finished, he realized what he had just done and flushed to the very tips of his ears.  
  
"It's okay," Hermione said as though reading his mind, "I mean, it works better if you show me that way."  
  
"Hermione," he said, looking up from the ground. "There's something I kind of wanted to tell you."  
  
"Yes?" she asked carefully.  
  
"Well, I." he said, trailing off into nothingness.  
  
"If you're about to tell me that you like me, I like you too." She said shyly, blushing. Ron felt like a weight he had been carrying since fourth year or even before that had been lifted off his chest, and suddenly everything seemed to good to be true. But there was still one question he had to ask.  
  
"Did you say this to Krum too?" Ron couldn't stop himself from saying.  
  
Instantly, Hermione's whole mood changed, and Ron decided that it could be true after all.  
  
"I can't believe you, Ron Weasley! You know what, I actually thought that you might have started to grow up! I mean, I thought you would start showing a few tiny little signs of maturity now that-"  
  
"Umm. Hermione? Maybe we should work on cheering charms, you know?" Ron interrupted hastily, hoping to escape her wrath for the time being. Hermione deflated a bit and began daintily doing charms on different parts of the shack, nostril's still flaring and eyes blazing. Ron decided to take the unorthodox approach, charming left and right without bothering to see what he was hitting.  
  
"Flubgibberit, Flubgibberit, Flubgibberit," he yelled, having a bit of fun while swishing and flicking like mad.  
  
Hermione frowned at him. "Ron I really don't think you should-"  
  
Hermione stopped in mid-sentence as one of Ron's overenthusiastic cheering charms bounced off the wall and hit her full in the head. 


	4. Feeling a Bit Off

A/N: This isn't my favorite chapter, but I had fun writing it! R&R, I accept anonymous reviews now!  
  
"Oops, sorry Hermione." He said, stopping mid-spell. Hermione opened her mouth to speak.  
  
"Hahaha, oh my, ha! You shouldn't be-hahahaha! Ron, take this spell off-hahaha! Ha! This is not funny, Ron -hahaha--! I ought to-hahahah!" Hermione fell to the floor, laughing hysterically. Ron cast her a worried glance.  
  
"Ronahahaha! You think that you're the-hahaha-only one who can doahahaha a proper cheering charm, well watch-haha-this one!' she laughed, gasping for breath. "Flubgubwubit! I mean, Flubwubblegubwubtub! Hahaha! Fluberwubgibwit! Flubgibberet!"  
  
The last one proved effective, although not nearly as strong as Ron's. Nevertheless, it had Ron rolling on the floor and acting more than a bit strange after just a few seconds.  
  
"Hermione, you are such a -haha! Actually, I don't know what you -hahaha-are. Hah! I'm sorry about -haha!- saying things about -haha--Krum, but he's -hahaha!-sort of grumpy, eh? -hahaha!-Grumpy Krum Grum! HAHA!  
  
"Not as grumpy as -haha!-you, you nibbertwit! Hahaha! I called you a -ha-Nibbertwit! Haha!" Hermione giggled.  
  
This went on for a few more minutes until Ron started to notice the effects of the charm wearing off a bit and beginning to give way to a new feeling of emptiness and coldness.  
  
"Haha!- Hermione, do you feel that funny feeling?-Haha-that's like a twister tongue! Feel funny feelings! Hahaha! " Ron called, who was still feeling a bit off. Hermione sat on a broken piece of furniture, humming a song. It didn't seem to have any consistent tune and was often punctuated by insane giggles and small bangs as she feel off the broken table.  
  
"Hermione, --haha-I feel the dementors. Maybe we should get our wands out, you know? Just in case they want to eat us? Yum yum! Hahahah!"  
  
Hermione seemed to come to a little bit as she looked up at him. "The dementors are -hahahahaha!-getting closer, I can feel them. We should-hic- be ready to do -haha!-patronus charms."  
  
Ron nodded, glad to see the spell was beginning to wear off on Hermione as well. Ron tried his best to sit quietly and think, and around ten minutes later the charm had almost completely lost it's effect.  
  
The last of the charm had left him when he could feel the Dementor's presence very nearby. Suddenly the door flew open, and about seven or eight of them glided eerily into the room. Ron gasped for air as they approached, their rotten hands groping the air as though trying to pull the joy and light from it. Images began to flash through his head; his second year, hearing that Ginny was dead; the sickening sound of his leg cracking and the hate he had felt when finding out what Scabbers truly was in third; Harry pulling Cedric's body from the maze in fourth.  
  
The images spun around him like some horrible movie as he frantically tried to get his bearings. The darkness was pressing in on him like a blanket; suffocating him, blinding him. Behind him, he heard an already weak Hermione slump to the floor as he felt his legs buckle. Hermione. He had to fight, had to try. For Hermione. Pointing his wand at a dementor that was bending over her, only a foot or so away from claiming her soul, he thought with all his might about earlier that day. Hermione's face appeared in his mind. "I like you too."  
  
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" He yelled, and out of his wand a golden lion leapt, roaring and pawing the air. "Help Hermione!" He yelled to it hoarsely, although a second dementor was only inches away from Ron himself. The lion charged into the dementor on top of Hermione, knocking it off of her. It then roared again and slashed the one who was about to kiss him. Ron only had enough energy to crawl over to where Hermione lay on the floor before his world was engulfed in black.  
  
A/N: I don't remember if it was mentioned in the 5th book what Ron's Patronus is, but I'm too lazy to check it out so I decided on a lion. The last chapter is already finished and will be here 2morrow or the next day. 


	5. Nobody Else but You

A/N: It's here! The last part, hope y'all like it. Sorry it's so short.  
  
***  
About an hour or so later  
  
"Enfervrate! En- ohmigoffRon! Youf far a heaffy twit! Enerfafe! Enervate!"  
  
Ron opened his eyes, and groggily wondered how long he had been asleep. And where was Hermione? And what the heck was that lumpy moving thing he was lying on?  
  
"Ron! Cuff you pleaf gerroff me?" said a muffled voice from.. underneath him? Ron jumped to his feet, swaying slightly. He swayed even more when he realized that he had been lying on top of Hermione. She was looking more than a little ruffled, and was holding her wand, which she must have just used to wake him. He reached down and helped her up, blushing for the fifty- millionth time that day.  
  
"What happened?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. "I tried to conjure a patronus, but I was too weak from that cheering charm, I suppose.  
  
"Well, there were about twelve dementors, and one was about to kiss you, so I thought of the happiest memory I could and conjured up a patronus. It was a lion, and a really huge one, and it saved you right before one of them dementors got you. There was another one right on top of me, and it was about to get me but my patronus roared and threw it off. Then it chased off the rest of them, I suppose, but I was already knocked out by then."  
  
Hermione frowned slightly. "That seems likely, but I was there when they first entered and there definitely wasn't twelve. Eight at the very most. Did more come?"  
  
"Well, I dunno, 'spose I might of counted wrong. I was a bit woozy from that cheering charm and all, you know." He said, remembering that Hermione was conscious part of the time and staring down. He would have done better to stare up, since looking down forced him to look directly into Hermione's eyes.  
  
"Ron, I know you. And you should know that you don't have to exaggerate to impress me. The real you is better then anything you could make up," Hermione said, smiling slightly while nursing a leg that Ron must have been laying on. Something told him that he wasn't going to find a better time than this. Leaning down, he hesitantly kissed her on the lips, and found that she was kissing him back. It might not have been the most perfect kiss in the world; Ron wouldn't know, since he had never kissed a girl besides Hermione before. But feeling her soft lips touch his own, he realized that he would be happy if it stayed like that as long as he lived.  
  
A/N: Huggles to Ninny Weasley, Ron-Is-Mine, Retkula, Lover-of-Sirus-Black (I love him too! *Sob* RIP Sirius.), Uriko-3000, quidditch7, Benina, and my parents for either reviewing or e-mailing me about this story. (: You won't be seeing the last of me- *Everyone Screams* I've already got a semi-plot for a new story in my head..  
  
Cheers, MyOwnLittleWorld 


End file.
